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World League 2005 News
Fresh start for France and Italy
 Ragusa,
Italy, May 26, 2005 – In what is expected to be
one of the most riveting contests during the
opening round of the 2005 World League this
weekend, world number six France arrived in
Ragusa on Wednesday in preparation for two away
matches against last year’s silver medallists
and world number two Italy starting on Friday at
20:30 (local time).
With both sides grouped in arguably the toughest
of the three pools - Pool B - this weekend’s
fixtures will be crucial in gaining the early
ascendancy, especially when one considers
Bulgaria and Cuba complete the group.
Pic: Pierre Pujol sets for Vincent Montmeat
during the 2004 World League where France
finished fifth
French coach Philippe Blain has brought with him
a young squad with a sprinkle of experience,
namely new captain Stephane Antiga, Philippe
Barca-Cysique, Vincent Montmeat and Jean Charles
Monneraye. While regular skipper Dominique
Daquin is off the international scene for the
year, the likes of star libero Hubert Henno,
Frantz Granvorka, Mathias Patin, Oliver Kieffer
and Sebastien Frangolacci have been left at
home.
“The World League this year is an important
competition for us,” Blain said. “It is not a
question of changing the team for the sake of it
like last year but actually working with a
stable group.
"The World League is the best chance for the
younger players to gain valuable experience and
it will also give us an ideal preparation
opportunity ahead of the third round of the
World Championship, which we have a few weeks
later. Our pool in the World League is very
difficult even if, like the Blues, the other
teams participating have been forced to make
changes and modify their squads."
Meanwhile, Italy, who are due to arrive in
Ragusa at 13:00 on Thursday, are also missing
some big names from their 2005 World League
squad with Andrea Giani, Samuele Papi, who is on
a year’s sabbatical, Andrea Sartoretti and
Damiano Pippi all absent.
However, coach Gianpaolo Montali has still named
his strongest 12-strong line up despite Marco
Meoni still being under an injury cloud, with
Olympic heroes Matej Cernic, Paolo Cozzi,
Alessandro Fei, Luigi Mastrangelo and Valerio
Vermiglio all still in the fray.
France: Loic Geiler, Jean Francois Exiga, Gerald
Hardy Dessources, Junot Mistoco, Jean Charles
Monneraye,
Stephane Antiga, Ludovic Castard, Vincent
Montmeat, Loic Lemarrec, Pierre Pujol, Gabriel
Zobo Lebay, Philippe Barca-Cysique.
Italy: Matej Cernic, Alberto Cisolla, Mirko
Corsano, Paolo Cozzi, Alessandro Farina,
Alessandro Fei, Luigi Mastrangelo, Leonardo
Morsut, Andrea Semenzato, Ventzislav Simeonov,
Giacomo Sintini, Valerio Vermiglio
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